RENO, Nev. — ASTA is planning to charge members a transaction
fee to generate funds for promoting ASTA and its travel agents to consumers,
according to Jay Ellenby, incoming chairman of the board of directors.
Ellenby made the announcement during a press conference
Wednesday during the ASTA Global Convention here.
“We need to generate more funds,” he said, so ASTA has
decided to institute the fee on all member agents, though the amount of that
fee has not yet been decided, nor has its implementation date.
Incoming ASTA chairman Jay Ellenby said the tranaction fee could be as low as 5 cents if the board finds that to be the appropriate amount. Photo Credit: Jamie Biesiada
“The thought was, for all of the transactions the agents do
— ASTA agents — for every transaction, a certain [fee] would go to that, so it
would be like a passenger facility charge of some kind … It could be 10 cents,
it could be a quarter, it could be 50 cents, it could be a dollar, depending on
what we come up with, what makes sense,” Ellenby said.
He also said the fee could be as low as 5 cents if the board
finds that to be the appropriate amount. It will be up to individual
agents/agencies if they bear the cost of the fee or if they pass it on to their
clients.
The funds collected will go to funding initiatives that
promote consumer awareness of travel agents, like videos ASTA has recently
produced.
“Quite honestly, we’re getting tired of hearing, ‘You guys
are still around?’” Ellenby said. “It’s like nails on a chalkboard. Yes, we’re
very much around. Consumer awareness is critical.”
Outgoing chairman Roger Block said that in the past four
years, ASTA has made great progress, including financially. For the past two
years the Society has been operating “in the black,” and will be this year
again, he said.
“It’s clearly a new ASTA,” said Ellenby, who said his goal
as incoming chairman is to continue that growth trajectory.
ASTA has set a goal of starting 10 new chapters this year
(there are currently 26), and increase its premium members from 134 to 140.
Additionally, the Society is hoping to grow the number of attendees to its
convention next year in San Diego.
This year, about 750 agents attended the conference in Reno,
compared to about 920 at last year’s conference in Washington, D.C. ASTA CEO
Zane Kerby attributed the decrease in attendees to the conference location, as
65% of ASTA’s members are based on the East Coast.
Ellenby said the goal has been set to hit 1,000 attendees
next year in San Diego. He believes 1,100 is attainable.
Kerby said as of July 31, ASTA had 8,965 total members in
all of its various membership categories. The supplier and domestic membership
categories are growing. There has been some consolidation, slightly shrinking
the number of premium members the society has, and international numbers have
decreased slightly, as well.
Helping ASTA members get in front of consumers is one of the
Society’s main goals, according to Kerby. ASTA has been funneling resources
into that goal in funding advertising that will reach consumers.
One example of putting ASTA agents in front of consumers is
the news-style online video programming ASTA launched Wednesday at its
conference, “Travel Agents Taking Off.” The videos are available to view on
ASTA’s website, and member agents are invited to post them on their own
websites.
The videos, which total 32 minutes, include different
chapters featuring interviews, news items and editorial profiles of leaders and
organizations, all focused on how agents are shaping the future of the travel
industry. They were produced by ITN Productions, which is planning another set
of videos for next year.